Legend of The Guardian: Original Guardian's Tale
by SpikeDawg45
Summary: Kyra had come to believe that she'd fail at being a Guardian. Life was not kind to her when it came to protecting others. Later Kyra crosses paths with the Avatar and his friends. They end up teaching her that you can't take life lying down, you have to fight even if there's a chance you may fail. For a Guardian, learning this lesson could be the difference between life and death.
1. Prologue: Imprisonment

**I'm having some BAD writer's block with the other 'The Guardian's Tale'. So in the mean time I wanted to update this little section of my original idea for The Guardian's Tale. You see, as I looked over my notes on this I realized that it was better than the one I'm I'm writing currently (In my oppinion). The Guardian's Tale - Original had a much different veiw on the whole Guardian concept, it's more complex than my other idea. You don't see that much complexity here since this is only a prologue, but I hope you guys enjoy this anyway. (I think this one is a lot better written than the other, but I'll leave that for the readers to decide.)**

**Oh, and I just wanted to say a special thank you to everyone who review my other story. You have no idea how much I appreciate it when you guys stop and review my story once in awhile it make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside . . . :)**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender, BUT . . . eh I'm out of ideas XD

* * *

**Prologue: Imprisonment**

The large fire nation guard dragged me through the ship's hallways towards my prison cell with one of his friends close behind. I was clad in my standard grey and black tunic, with black pants that had a paw insignia; signifying that I was part of the Wolfpaw tribe. But now my clothes were torn and stained in blood from the severe beatings I've experienced.

One guard was cursing at me, calling me foul names as they dragged me to the cell. The other guard called Nero had enough sense to keep his mouth shut from what he's seen me do to the last guard that dared to cross me. It wasn't very pretty, and I'll say now that I didn't even want to hurt the man; _not too much anyway_.

"Why do we even keep such a disgusting creature like this, Nero? Can't we just finish it off and be done with it?" complained the lanky guard.

"You know we can't do that!" scolded Nero, "She'd just be reincarnated and we'd have to deal with finding the other monster. Now shut up before she'll make you regret what you said."

The guard snickered and replied, "But the village of Amak has already been destroyed. There's nowhere for the guardian to be reborn. Plus what could this thing," he said, giving me a kick to my side, "possibly do with the wounds it has."

I turned my head weakly and glared at the guard, warning him incase he'd try doing that again.

Nero shook his head at the guard's foolishness, "The spirits always find a way, Lerin. And you need to stop that, unless you want to lose that leg. You remember what happened to Kenji . . ."

It was like this every day; I was beat for being a Guardian, and then thrown back to my cell so that I could 'think' about what I've 'done.' Although I never really did anything they continued to beat me claiming I'd done something wrong by just existing.

We entered the dark room and Lerin unlocked the cell, flinging the door open with a clang. My adoptive brother was in the cell next to mine glaring at the guards as they threw me in. My wounded back collided with the cold steel wall making me cry out in pain, as I fell to my knees.

Nero searched his pockets for his keys, "Shit," he cursed, as he checked empty pockets, "I forgot the keys. Watch her Lerin, and don't do anything stupid." He warned as he left the room.

Lerin turned to me, grinning behind his helmet, "So how does it feel to have everything taken from you?"

I stayed silent staring at the ground.

"You look at me when I speak to you!" he angrily reached over with his greasy hands and forced me to look at him.

"Leave her alone!" yelled Ken from his cell, clutching the bars.

Lerin flung a small arch of fire at his face, close enough to singe the ends of his hair as Ken jumped back, "Shut up, filth!"

I could have easily knocked him unconscious, but my wounds and hunger weakened me; I couldn't so much as bend a small gust of air.

Lerin looked into my eyes, searching a weakness, an emotion, "I'll break you. You haven't shed a single tear since we've captured you, but I WILL find your breaking point. And I'll enjoy every moment of your agonizing pain."

My eyebrows knitted together and I responded by spitting at him square in the eye.

He retracted his hand and wiped his eye cursing.

Furious he slapped me with the back of his hand, making me lose balance and fall over with a grunt.

Ken lunged at the bars, "I swear to the Spirits, if you so much as touch her again I'll make sure you'll be the first guard to die by my hands!"

"I thought I told you to shut your mouth!" warned Lerin.

I slowly pushed myself into a sitting position, holding my red, stinging cheek with one hand. Anger and surprise burned in my eyes from the sudden hit.

Lerin slammed the door shut, spitting at me through the bars, "I'll make sure you have twenty extra whippings administrated tomorrow," he snorted, turning away, "filthy animal."

I wiped some blood from my lip, "Takes one to know one," I said.

Lerin immediately spun around to fire bend at me, "You little!"

Nero noticed what was happening as he entered the room with the keys in hand. He quickly ran over and grabbed Lerin's arm before he could do anything, "Stop!" he warned, "You anger too easily. Leave it be, let's go."

Lerin trudged angrily out of the room, "Fine."

Nero locked my cell door, all the while avoiding my eyes. Then he left the room glancing back at me with a scared look on his face before closing the door. He probably noticed my eyes change color from my anger.

I sat up against the wall with a grunt. Some of my wounds were weakening me significantly, but the smaller and less severe wounds heal within seconds. Fortunately, the guards had underestimated my will to withstand pain. I closed my eyes and tried to calm down before anything drastic happened. As my anger receded I could feel my eyes shift to normal.

Looking over at my brother I noticed they had beaten him too, while I was gone. But he wasn't beaten as bad as I was, they wanted to keep him alive so that they could use him as an _incentive_ for me. His short black hair was matted and dirty, along with his grey tunic and pants which were covered in filth more than anything else.

I looked at Ken, "Have my eyes gone back to normal?" He nodded in reply.

Ken coughed and looked over to me, "I thought I told you not to say anything. It'll only make things worse."

"How worse can this get? We're already being beaten to near death, so one word or two isn't going to make much of a difference," I said, irritated.

"The difference is that they might actually kill us next time. We should just listen to what they say and we'll stay alive." Ken said.

Irritated I replied, "I'm not just going to sit and cower at their every move like a cornered animal, Ken! I won't show them any kind of fear, not even if I stare up at the face of death himself will I ever back down. That's not how father raised us . . ."

Ken stayed quiet, thinking, "I'm sorry, let's just get some rest before the sun rises."

Taking Ken's advice I laid down on the cold steel floor and stared up at the ceiling. The frigidness of the ground helped to cool the rage that burned inside me. _Would we ever get out of here? Or are we just doomed to a life of imprisonment and torture. I'm a Guardian; I can't just sit in a cell and do nothing! I need to be out there helping in fighting the war against the fire nation. I felt pathetic and weak just sitting and doing nothing. Had I already failed as the Guardian? Would . . . would I ever see my father again?_

Pulling my mind away from such thoughts I closed my eyes and hoped sleep would welcome me with open arms this time.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! I've been considering maybe continuing the Guardian story with this Original version. I don't know I'll let the readers decide. So if you think this is a better way to start the story then vote on my poll wich will be up in a few minutes. I'll take it down in a few days and decide by the vote. Again thanks for reading! **

**Oh and if I do write starting from this version then I just wanted to let the readers know that the story would go from first season all the way through third. And I would write some dialogue from the show but not everything will be the same, I mean who wants to read the same thing they watched- Boring!**

**K so please vote on the poll** X)


	2. Chapter 1: Interrogation

**K, so here's the official debut of the original A Guardian's Tale. But I changed the title into "The Legend of A Guardian" because there'd be too much confusion if it had the same name. Though, remember it's not that much different than the one I was writing earlier. Also I've changed Kyra's brother's name from Ken into Ulric. Ken was supposed to be his "original" name, according to my notes, before I even put the story on fanfiction but I grew attached to Ulric and his character in the other story so I'm keeping that name.**

**I just wanted to thank everyone who voted and those of you that voted to keep the other story. Still I can't stress enough that this story isn't DRASTICLY different than the other, in minor ways more than anything. Enough of my babbing, Enjoy the story!**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender, but the plan is almost complete *grins evily* XD

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Interrogation**

I woke up to the sound of steel toed boots stomping their way to the prison cells. I could barely open my eyes before I was dragged out of my cell and onto my feet. I blinked a couple of times getting my eyes used to the sudden light and struggled to keep standing.

That same guard Lerin tied my hands in chains and pulled, leading me out of the room, "Come on; move!"

Before I was forced out the door I looked back to Ulric, seeing him just waking up and giving me a worried gaze. I smiled at him, trying to reassure him (and myself) that everything will be fine.

Lerin tugged harder and led me down the long torch lit hallways. We passed by countless closed metal doors that seemed to all look the same. I wondered how the guards knew which door was the right one as he pulled me left into another hallway with the same exact doors. I turned my head down not wanting to know what was awaiting me behind one of them.

I continued to keep my eyes on the floor as I asked, "Where are you taking me?"

Just by the tone of his voice I knew he was grinning with inner glee, "Prince Zuko and Captain Ulgar have a surprise waiting for you in the torture chamber."

I smiled with fake joy, "Oh, let me guess is it that whipping you promised earlier?" I said sarcastically.

He pulled with greater force making the chains dig into my wrists, "Let's hope so . . . for your sake." He replied sinisterly.

Finally after turning down a few corridors we walked up to a single door that 'surprisingly' wasn't any different than the other doors. Lerin dug some keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door. He smiled again and pushed me inside along with the chains still tied to my wrists, "Have fun!" he yelled before slamming the door shut.

I lost my footing and tumbled to the ground mumbling to myself, "What a a-hole."

Suddenly I was lifted off of the ground by my arms, by two guards that seemed to come from nowhere. They forced me onto a wooden chair, untiing my chains only to tie them again behind the back of the chair.

I lifted my head to face my two captors that I hated with every fiber of my being; Zuko and Ulgar.

Ulgar grinned as Zuko kept a straight face with an almost bored expression. Ulgar stalked up to me, circling me like the predator he was.

"Hello, Kyra," he began, "I hope your stay at our lovely ship was pleasant."

I snorted, avoiding his prowling eyes, "hardly."

"Good," he leaned down, his face inches from mine, "that means you won't be acting out."

I glared at him, "I think I'd like my personal space, thank you."

He straightened himself and continued to pace around the room, "Do you know why we've captured you?"

He didn't want an answer, but quite frankly I didn't care, "Because the slime that you are had nothing better to do than to capture, and torture, innocent girls? Or is it because your too scared to have captured someone that is actually your size. Didn't you want to be an admiral?" he turned red with anger, I pressed on, "You'd think such a 'revered' captain like yourself would instead be commanding armies." I said sarcastically.

Ulgar snapped and punched my jaw with all of his might. My head drooped to the right from the force with a bit of blood trickling from my lip as I spit some out.

"Someone has a bad temper," I muttered.

He clenched his fists, "I will not tolerate such disrespect in front of the Prince of the fire nation!"

I chuckled, "You mean former prince."

Zuko narrowed his eyes at me as his fists glowed red from the fire he was resisting to bend.

Obviously irritated Zuko pushed past Ulgar, "Enough of these games!" he stared angrily at me, "Where is the Avatar."

I sighed angrily, "How in the hell am I to know!"

"You should know because you're the Avatar's Guardian."

I laughed, "That's ridiculous-"

Interupting me, he walked towards a fire nation emblem painting, "The prophecy tells of a being sent from the Spirits to help the Avatar in case of great peril. And you are the only person in the world that can change your very body into a wolf-being. On top of that you have immense strength, heightened senses, and other inhuman abilities."

Ulgar stepped up to me again, "Which can only mean you are the Avatar's Guardian and only YOU know the whereabouts of the Avatar. So where is he!" he yelled.

I was dumbfounded by these people's stupidity. If what they said were true then my village's monks would have told me. Wouldn't they?

"I don't know!" I yelled back.

He punched me again, making my chair lean back for a second before steadying itself, "Don't lie to me!"

My head drooped from side to side from the disorientation caused by the punch, "I am thirteen years old; the Avatar disappeared over a hundred years ago," my voice rose with my anger, "So tell me, how in the world should I know where your precious Avatar is!"

"UGH!" yelled Zuko in frustration, "This is getting nowhere," he turned to Ulgar, "I'm going to go and actually do something useful with my time, and YOU try to get the answer out of her."

He then stomped out of the room, slamming the door angrily behind him.

Before I could even turn my head back to Ulgar, I was greeted with a punch to the gut from said person.

I struggled to breathe after having the wind knocked out of me, and was left with a stinging pain in my stomach. Leaning over, I looked Ulgar in the eye as he grinned.

"So you don't have to suffer another hit, I suggest you cooperate," he cracked his knuckles.

"I told you," I said tersely, "I don't know where the Avatar is."

He shook his head slowly, "Wrong answer."

Then he kicked my stomach, knocking me off of my chair. I wheezed like an old man and groaned from the excruciating pain.

Ulgar motioned to two guards behind me. They lifted me and the chair back upright. I was looking down at my feet as Ulgar forced me to look at him.

He snorted, "Pitiful. Just like your father was."

Was? I thought. Realization hit me as I suspected what I hoped wasn't true.

"What did you do to my father," I hissed.

He flashed his unnaturally white teeth at me, "Oh, nothing really. He not dead if that's what you were thinking."

I surpressed a sigh of relief as I kept my face free of any other emotion than anger.

Ulgar chuckled, "I'm not THAT heartless. After all I was a very good friend of his."

It was true, Ulgar was a friend of my father. That is until he betrayed us.

Hesitantly I asked, "Where there any other survivers."

"Not a one." He answered, grinning.

Sadness over whelmed me as I only let a single tear run down my cheek. That was the first time in months that I had cried and I wasn't going to let another tear fall; I won't give him any satisfaction.

"Take her back to her cell." He barked, with his back turned to me.

The guards lifted me off the chair with my hands tied behind my back. Before I was pushed out the door I asked Ulgar a single question, "Why?"

His back stiffened slightly as I asked that question, which means it caused him some discomfort. That was a plus for me.

As I was being pushed and shoved back to my cell I thought about my village and the many people I knew. It saddened me that all of those precious lives and heritage was lost. My people have lived there since the very first Avatar appeared, it was a sacred place but now it lay in ruins. And these memories that haunted my very soul would linger like a scar, every time I'd try and remember it would only reopen the wounds I suffered.

And yet, this stupid prophecy stayed buried in my mind, pestering me. In all my years of preparing and training, I've never heard of a Guardian of The Avatar. It wasn't enough that I had to protect the people suffering from this war, now there's a possibility that I am supposed to help and protect the Avatar? This sounded like something a kid of thirteen isn't intended to be burdened with.

If only I had someone to explain all of this to me. If I had someone to guide me, it would be that much more helpful and at least ease most of the pressure.

The guards had thrown me in my cell and locked the door without a word. I guess they didn't want to torture me this time around.

Ulric suddenly appeared next to me holding his cell bars, "What did they do to you?"

I didn't reply, but only sighed with tiredness as I sat on the cold floor.

"Tell me so that I can add it to the list of what I'll do to them when we get out," he demanded.

"They wanted to know where the Avatar is," I said in a hollow tone.

His eyebrows knitted together in confusion, "What? Didn't he disappear a hundred years ago?"

I shrugged, "Yeah, but they insisted I knew because of some prophecy saying I'm the Avatar's Guardian."

He turned and sat against the bars, "Spirits, what will they do next?" he waved his hands around in frustration, "It's like they're bored or something and now they're telling stories!"

I was debating in my mind whether to tell him about our father. He was already worried about me, it would only weigh him down more to know about dad. But no matter how much I didn't want to . . . he had a right to know.

I turned to Ulric with misty eyes, "Ulric, dad's not dead. They have him, I don't know where but they've got him and I'm afraid they'll kill him if they don't get what they want."

He abruptly turned around, "No they won't! Not while I'm still alive," He said angrily, "we'll find him Kyra. We'll find him and . . . we'll rescue him and go back home," as he said this, his voice faltered and his eyes glistened with doubt.

"There's no home to go back to . . ." I said, at the brink of tears.

He gritted his teeth, trying desperately not to cry as he realized what I meant. I was right though, our home is destroyed and no one but I, Ulric and our father survived. There was nothing to return to and even if we did we'd only get captured again because surely the fire nation would be preparing to build a colony there.

Ulric turned back around as his shoulders begun to shake. He was hiding his tears, ashamed of crying in front of his little sister. The stubborn person he is, he always thought he was supposed to be the strong one. The one that takes charge and can hold everyone together when all we want to do is crumble away into nothing. Although that judgement annoyed me to no end, I was fairly used to him acting in that way. And sometimes I needed him to be the leader, the rock.

But now as we sat there mourning our losses, I realized that I can't be that fragile little girl anymore that gives up when there's no one there to help. Now it was my turn to take charge, and I need to be the one to hold us up when things get rough. I know we can both do it, sure there'll be breaking points and we'll want to just sit and cry over our troubles but that won't help. I need to grow up and become my own person and stay strong. It's easier said than done but I know Ulric and I can do it, we're on our own now left with these problems . . . and it's time I take matters into my own hands.

* * *

**Thanks for reading, and please give me feedback! I'd love to know what you guys think. I myself believe it's alot better written than the other. Uh, but enough typing it's like 4 AM and I'm still writing! *faint***

**Thanks For Reading, next chap will be up soon! XD**


	3. Chapter 2: Suppressed Memories

**CURSE SCHOOL AND THE DEMON TEACHERS PROWLING THE HALLWAYS! UGH! (ok, calming down now)**

**I'm veeeeery sorry for not updating in a while. I'm sure you guys know how school can be . . . Anyway, although I was swamped with homework and tests and the likes, I still work on this chapter and tried my hardest to make it understandable, mostly grammer mistake-free, and interesting to read. So in this chapter you guys get to dive a bit deeper into Kyra's back story and what she went (still going through) through as a Guardian. Hopefully I succeeded in my goal to making the characters original, like-able and humorous at times.**

**K, before we start I just wanted to thank Danika-chan07 for reviewing every chapter/prologue so far. Thank you very much for reviewing and taking the time to read my story! *gives cookie* ^-^ This chapter is dedicated to Danika-chan07 !**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, but I most definately own my Characters Ulric and Kyra!**

**Kyra: No you don't.**

**Me: YEAH I DO! *pelts with cookies***

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 2: Suppressed Memories**

Eventually Ulric and I calmed down enough to actually communicate properly. It felt good though, just letting out all the grief after months of torture. Ulric would think he's weak for crying, but really he's gained much respect from me. Sharing this burden makes us stronger as a family and that's the most important thing to have in dark times.

We sat back to back with the metal bars in between us that divided our cells. For what seemed like forever we just sat there reminiscing the good times.

Ulric chuckled, "Hey, remember when dad actually tried baking a cake for that banquet we had two years ago?"

I broke out in laughter picturing the result, "Yeah, I can't believe that cake blew up in his face. And all of that frosting-"

"-just fell all over the Elder Monks!" he finished in between laughs.

"I don't think I've ever seen Monk Lupis more angry," I chuckled, then I sighed sadly, "Those were the days, huh."

"Yeah . . ." he trailed off lost in his own memories, "That was the same day they told you . . . you were the Guardian."

"That was the worst day of my life, aside from that cake incident," I replied falling into that deep dark memory.

_It was a beautiful cloud free day at my village and everybody was bustling about the markets either chatting away or selling goods. This seemed like such a normal and calm morning that no one expected it to be any different; least I didn't._

_I was playing kick ball outside with Ulric running along some soft grass; of course I was improving my kicks with a bit of air bending._

_"Hey that's cheating!" yelled out thirteen year-old Ulric as I scored yet another goal with a gust of wind, knocking him over in the process._

_I simply shrugged and laughed at Ulric's annoyed expression, "You have to be faster!"_

_"Yeah, like I can catch a ball that's traveling two hundred miles an hour!" he complained._

_We were playing at our most favorite clearing outside of our village, right next to a babbling brook. Here was the softest grass on the whole island, Ulric and I used to lie on that grass and watch the clouds or even star gaze on clear nights. This was where our mom used to take us to relax or picnic._

_I jogged over and helped Ulric up with some airbending, "Do you have to use bending for everything?" he asked._

_"Yup," I replied, swiftly snatching the ball away before Ulric could kick it._

_"HEY!"_

_Laughing joyfully, I kicked the ball along trying to find yet another good way to annoy Ulric by scoring a goal. I was so much focusing on the ball that I didn't notice Monk Lupis walk over. I accidentally bumped into Lupis nearly knocking him over._

_Surprised I stepped back, "Sifu Lupis!" I put my fist in my left palm in a respectful bow, "I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention."_

_He only smiled kindly, "It's quite alright young one," he motioned for me to follow, "Come with me, there's something important The Elder Council must talk about with you."_

_"Did I do something wrong?" I asked._

_He smiled, shaking his head, "Of course not, they just need to tell you something very important."_

_Ulric finally caught up breathing harshly, "Is there something wrong Master Lupis?"_

_"Oh, Ulric you should come too," with a confused look on his face Ulric followed along._

_I didn't know what was going on at the time, but I was worried none the less. Because if the Elder Council needed to talk to someone so suddenly . . . well in the past it's never been a good thing. As we slowly made our way to the Sacred Temple of The Guardians, I instantly knew in the pit of my stomach that this might be the day that could change the rest of my life._

_The tall temple towered over our heads, I never knew how high up it really went but as a small child I imagined it to go all the way above the clouds to the moon. I heard that this temple was a replica of one of the temples in the air nations; I've never been to the air temples personally but I've seen many paintings and I wished that I could have visited the place in its prime._

_We entered the temple through huge double wooden doors and went through many twists and turns of hallways and stairs. By the time we actually made it to the Elder's Meeting chamber I was out of breath and ready to keel over. Ulric didn't seem to be in very good shape either. Monk Lupis just chuckled at our silliness and proceeded to the chamber. I could never figure out though, how he could climb all these stairs and navigate through so many hallways without being at least a little out of breath. He really amazed me sometimes._

_We entered the chamber and sat down on some cushions which lay on the marble floor. The whole room was made of white and grey marble sparkling when light hit its sleek surface. The seven Elders sat on cushions in front of us arranged in a half circle. All of them were bald and had beards and mustaches, I used to think they looked hilarious but now they were seriously grim. My father stood next to the Elders with a worried expression. He was clad in a very dark blue tunic and grey pants. He even wore his favorite wolf fur boots that reached up to his knees. (He only wore those on special occasions.) My father kept glancing at me then looking away nervously. That wasn't a good sign, my father was never nervous._

_I gulped, afraid. Then I felt someone put their hand on my shoulder, I looked up to face Lupis. He gave me a gentle smile, "Don't worry, everything will be fine."_

_I nodded and tried to look serious and confident, but failed miserably because I couldn't shake away this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. I looked to Ulric and he smiled at me as if saying, "I'm here no matter what."_

_The Elder in the middle of the half circle, Weylyn, spoke up, "Do you know why you've been summoned here Kyra?"_

_'Yeah, of course I know' I really hated when these wise elders ask such stupid questions, "N-no, sir."_

_He folded his hands, "I'm sure you've heard of Guardians before," he looked at me questioningly, I nodded, "Well, the last Guardian has passed and since then we've been searching tirelessly for any sign of the Guardian's return," he paused for a few moments, "Kyra we're afraid that the island of Amak may be in danger. We've stayed out of the war so far and this might change very soon, so we need to be prepared."_

_My father looked over to Weylyn, "Please, can you at least try to reconsider and wait till she's older. She's not ready for this kind of responsibility."_

_"Unfortunately we don't have that sort of time Ryu," he replied._

_He then turned to me and that was when I knew what he was going to tell me, but I didn't want to believe it, "Kyra, you are the next Guardian."_

_At that moment silence overwhelmed the room. It was like no one dared to breath, either because of shock or they were waiting for my reaction._

_I lowered my head and stared at my reflection in the shiny marble, I looked so lost, sad and distraught. I didn't recognize myself, "How do you know? Maybe it's a mistake." I said; an ounce of hope left in me as I looked at Weylyn._

_He shook his head, "Oh, it's no mistake. Just think about it, what are the odds that you happen to be an airbender when no one else in this village is an airbender?"_

_"What about Master Lupis, he's an airbender," Ulric pointed out._

_"His descendants were from the northern air temple, he doesn't factor in this," he disputed, then continued with his explanation, "Besides the last Guardian was a firebender and the next in line was to be an airbender, which is you."_

_Aggravated I replied, "That could've been just a coincidence."_

_Weylyn shook his head, "When you were seven I remember you getting angry at some bully at school. So you shoved him, but instead of pushing him back a few inches you sent him flying into the river. Our healer had to put fifty stitches on that boy's head. Also in Last year's twenty mile long race you won in under a minute. And every full moon you get horrible aches, so horrible that you can hardly get out of bed."_

_I gritted my teeth, angry because I knew he was right. How can all of these weird yet amazing things happen without me being the Guardian?_

_"All of these events point to one thing. You are the Guardian."_

_I stood up angrily, "So you're saying I'm going to be turning into that monster!"_

_The Elder next to Weylyn spoke up, "A Guardian is not a monster. He or she is a gift sent from the spirits to help people." He explained, obviously irritated at my immaturity._

_I laughed sarcastically, "Oh, right a human being turning into a half wolf creature isn't a monster!"_

_"Kyra calm down," Lupis said putting his hand on my shoulder._

_I shook his hand off, "No I won't calm down! This is unreal!" I yelled running out of the temple._

_At the same time Ulric ran after me, "Kyra, wait!"_

I shook my head and pushed that memory away, "I can't believe I did that."

"Did what?" Ulric asked.

"Ran off like that . . ." I sighed, angry with myself.

"Kyra, you were eleven. Any kid you're age would have done the same thing," he reasoned, "It takes a lot of strength to control that . . . power inside you. Not to mention the responsibility that comes with it. I'd have reacted the same way," he paused as he thought, "Still though, it wasn't that bad. You got through most of the struggles."

I thought about this, he was right anybody would be upset at that news. But I still didn't forgive myself for doing that. My actions showed much disrespect towards the Elders and it revealed that I was irresponsible. And my so called 'struggles' were worse than bad, after that whole meeting with the Elders I was treated like an outcast by many people in the village a year later.

"Thanks, but I think we both know how everything changed after the rest of the island found out."

_I was walking towards the town square. As I made my way through the square at a slow yet brisk pace, people shopping by the market stands turned and glared daggers at me. They were disgusted that I even ventured outside today, a small part of me wanted to smack each and every person there upside the head for acting in such a way. The Guardian originated here and lived among our people for centuries and yet they hate me. I didn't know why, I supposed it was something the Elders neglected to tell me . . . or my people just don't want a monster living among them anymore. I turned my head down, and ignored the cold stares of the people around me, instead concentrating on the snow underneath my boots._

_It was a cold, icy winter morning and Ulric had insisted on buying some hot chocolate at our favorite restaurant we always ate at with our father, 'The Serene Ilene.' Ilene was the owner's wife before she passed away from old age, so he named his restaurant after her. I knew her for a while before she passed; she was a kind and caring lady. She deserved to have a great restaurant named after her. I knew the owner fairly well since Ulric and I were more than regular customers, during these tough times I was going through he was the one and only man in the village who didn't care whether I was a half-wolf being or a ragged spider monkey. He would always welcome me with open arms and a kind warm smile (he'd even give me a discount once in a while)._

_These memories always brought a smile onto my face no matter what. You could imagine how heartbroken I was to find out that he passed away in his sleep months later._

_As I walked I closed my eyes for a moment and concentrated on the crisp winter air and let the tiny snowflakes fall onto my face, lingering there before melting away and rolling down my cheeks. The loud crunch of the freshly fallen snow as I walked calmed my nerves that have been working over-time that day. Since the day I found out I was Guardian Monk Lupis had been making me train for hours, either by meditating for days or practicing my hand to hand combat with airbending. He was beginning to remind me of a drill sergeant that once live on this island, he moved away because of a couple of 'pranksters' that decided to get some payback._

_Yeah . . . I used to be a pretty good prankster, and with Ulric we could make the strictest person in the world fear of once again slipping on some slime that 'happened' to be on the floor whenever he made his dramatic entrance. I loved those days._

_But now everything changed._

_I opened my eyes again and accidentally bumped into someone making me rebound and fall back, "Sorry, I didn't see you there," I said dusting myself off as I stood._

_"Oh, that's ok Kyra," the person said._

_I looked at the person's face recognizing his voice. It was Ulgar with a couple of his 'buddies' standing behind him, grinning evilly like idiots._

_"So how've you been? I heard the Monks have been training you to transform for the first time," he said, pretending to be interested as he leaned casually against a building next to him._

_A brown haired boy spoke up from behind him, "I'll bet she'll lose control the very minute she changes, she should be locked in a cage for good measure."_

_That was the first and last time I ever felt scared. In those days Ulgar was a seventeen year old asshole that never knew when no meant no. Somehow he had befriended my father. I wasn't surprised; he was very good at deceiving people and playing with their emotions. So it wasn't a shocker when he finally assembled his own little group or gang or whatever you want to call it._

_Ulgar's grin grew even more, "That's not a bad idea . . ." he motioned to his gang, "get her boys!"_

_Afraid, I turned and ran straight for the woods. I didn't really have a destination so I only hoped my feet would carry me far enough to lose Ulgar. But I was tired and didn't run as fast as I would if my muscles weren't sore. The deep snow wasn't helping much either. As I ran I glanced behind me and found Ulric and his gang was hot on my tail yelling and taunting me._

_Snow flew everywhere as I bounded on through some thick brush and tree branches. Suddenly I had realized something . . . why was I running when I could easily airbend at those guys and knock 'em out? I mentally slapped myself for being so thick headed._

_Without another thought I quickly twisted my body around, took a deep breath and blew at the gang using my hands to create greater force. As the gust of wind traveled toward the stunned boys it produced huge sprays of snow all around. The gang was pushed down, not necessarily knocking them unconscious but buying me enough time to escape._

_Turning around in an instant I continued running, trying to get to a safe place. If I would head deeper into the woods I could escape the gang. But they'd just search the woods and eventually find me because going any farther into the woods than the lake reaches would be suicide. My best bet was to head straight for the square to the restaurant since Ulric would be there waiting. It's better four to two than four to one. I made a beeline towards that favorite clearing Ulric and I hung out at, it was close to the square and there was room to maneuver if Ulgar caught up with me. As I moved, tree branches scratched and tugged at my shirt while I attempted to shield my face from the sharp edges. Suddenly my feet were swept out from under me and I crashed onto the ground, my head hitting the ice that lay beneath me; plunging me into darkness._

_I woke a few minutes later to laughter. My vision hazy from the hit to my head, I rolled over to my stomach and felt my head in case it was bleeding. There was no blood, but a rather large bump began to form at the back of my head, throbbing. Groaning with discomfort I only managed to get up on my knees without falling over again from the spinning dizziness my head was going through. I looked up finding myself surrounded by Ulric's gang. They grinned triumphantly as two guys pulled me up onto my feet still holding onto my arms in case I decided to make a break for it. Which I would've if I weren't wobbling as my world seemed to be spinning around me._

_My dizziness slowly faded as Ulric began to speak, "Nice try with that blast of air and snow. Truthfully, I didn't see that coming," he said, flicking some snow off of his shoulder, "But still, here we are back to square one."_

_"What do you want?" I said, trying to look furious, though my body was shaking with fear._

_He laughed, which confused me because really, what exactly is so funny about this?_

_"Nothing really, just joining the fun of the rest of the village," he answered._

_"Fun?" I yelled in outrage, "So you mean me being ridiculed and treated like an animal, is fun!"_

_"Yes, actually," he replied._

_I glared at him, "You're demented."_

_He shrugged, "Call me what you like, it still doesn't change the fact that you're obviously in no shape to protect our island. You can't even protect yourself."_

_My anger at his words was now overcoming my fear. I felt my muscles tense and my jaw clench. Monk Lupis had told me this was common in Guardians, that they'd get so angry or irritated that his or her abilities would suddenly take over. Since I can't yet utilize these abilities at will, it can be useful sometimes when I get angry to use them, either for defense or protection of other people. It works like the Avatar's "Avatar State" except there's no way a Guardian can be as strong as the Avatar._

_One of Ulgar's friends walked out from behind me, staring confusedly at my eyes, "Uh, Ulgar?" he said, pointing at me._

_Then I knew my eyes had changed color, signaling that I was pissed and might transform._

_Ulgar noticed as well, but instead he hid his fear, "That's nothing," he dismissed._

_He took a step toward me and created a fire ball in the palm of his hand, holding it inches from my cheek, he glared._

_I felt the swaying fire nip lightly at my face, stinging, "I suggest you contain that anger of yours. Because maybe one day I might actually lose control of my fire and it just 'might' be aimed right at this pretty little face of yours," he whispered in my ear._

_I tried to move my face away from the flame, but the two guys had a tight grip on my arms, restricting any movement from me._

_A hand suddenly appeared behind Ulgar, tapping him twice on the shoulder. Letting out a irritated groan Ulgar turned his head, "What-"_

_Immediately Ulgar's head snapped back, with a look of shock. He collapsed onto the ground revealing Ulric standing in front of me, rubbing his knuckles. The two guys holding me let go and stepped back in surprise._

_I quickly moved to Ulric's side, a sly grin plastered on my face, "How'd you find me?" I asked._

_Keeping his eyes trained on the remaining three guys as they got into fighting stances, he said, "It's kind of hard to miss a huge whole blasted through the forest."_

_I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to the trio in front of us, who were now inspecting us with glares._

_"I don't suppose we could walk away peacefully from this situation," I said, raising my eye brow._

_I was answered with a fire ball nearly hitting my face as I side stepped, "guess not," I replied and ran forward with Ulric, attacking the three gang members._

_I successfully dodged some attacks as I moved in on one red haired boy. He attempted to push me back with a fire shield, but failed when I tripped him up and drove my elbow into his stomach as he fell. Leaving the boy wheezing on the ground I moved to help Ulric who was parrying some punches from the two gang members left._

_Before I could reach him, Ulric grabbed one of the boy's fists and twisted his arm around his back then kneeing him in the gut, shoving him to the ground. As Ulric turned, the other boy, sporting spiky hair, managed to punch Ulric square on his jaw, stunning him. He was then driven to the ground as the spiky haired boy gave him a nasty low-blow._

_I winced as he fell, feeling sympathy for his pain. The boy then charged at me hollering like a mad man. I simply punched him, letting the momentum of his run do most of the damage; swiftly doing a full 360 I air kicked him into a tree, unconscious. At that moment I felt my muscles unwind and my eyes morph back to normal as my anger receded._

_Walking over to Ulric I took his arm and helped him up as he bent over from the pain. He struggled to straighten himself as he asked, "Care to tell me what all of that was about?"_

_I ignored his question and headed toward the square again, stepping over the unconscious boys that lay in my way._

_Ulric jogged up to me still grunting with discomfort. Glancing at him I said, "Let's just go get some hot chocolate and forget this ever happened."_

_He frowned, "I promise I won't let anyone hurt you again. You don't deserve to be treated this way."_

_Entering the restaurant, I sighed as the warm air rushed towards me, "I think we both know this won't stop. Either I learn to defend myself and therefore earn these people's respect or I live with people walking over me at every chance they get."_

Ulric turned his head half way towards me, "I pretty much broke that promise didn't I?"

"You know you couldn't have prevented everything. Besides, it's only the fact that I have such a great brother is what keeps me going," I replied.

A loud clang of a door awakened us from our conversation. We turned to a hooded figure holding a tray with two cups of steaming tea. I grinned because I knew exactly who this was. The figure removed his hood revealing a worn, wrinkled yet wise face with white hair and beard. Iroh; he's the only firenation man on this ship that showed us any kindness.

Since the first day we were captured he looked at us with sympathy and sadness in his eyes. Whenever he could, he snuck into our prison room to give some extra rice or tea or bread. The guards rarely fed us, and when they did give us food, they only let it drop to the ground telling us to eat like the animals we are. It was unfortunate that he couldn't stay long, though.

So because Iroh treated us with the respect he thought we deserved, and thereby undermined Zuko's and Ulgar's rules, he was treated with respect by us in return.

Iroh smiled as he set the tray down onto the ground and sat cross-legged, "I thought some nice hot Jasmine tea would fit the climate we're about to enter," he picked up the cups and gave Ulric and I one, pushing it through the bars.

"Thank you General Iroh," said Ulric as he sipped his tea.

"How many times do I have to tell you, call me Iroh," he exclaimed, chuckling.

I lifted my cup and blew on the scorching liquid, "What do you mean? Where are they taking us?"

"We are headed toward the South Pole," he sighed, "my nephew suspects the Avatar is hiding there because of some bright light that erupted in the sky."

Ulric snorted and mumbled behind his cup, "I think that ponytail of his is on too tight."

Iroh lifted his eyebrow humorously at Ulric.

I shook my head at his remark then turned to Iroh, "Do you think the Avatar is actually alive, Iroh?"

He shrugged, "I do not know. Either way Zuko will keep searching no matter how small the possibility."

He stood up and took the tray with him to leave, "I should go see what he is up to," opening the door to leave, he suddenly stopped and looked to me, "I almost forgot, I you are searching for the answer to your question Kyra, try meditating. I find it to be very helpful in sorting out complex thoughts," he smiled then closed the door quietly behind him.

I suppose it wouldn't hurt to meditate, I haven't done it in a while, I thought. I stared at the deep brown tea in my cup. How am I even supposed to figure out if I'm the Avatar's Guardian or not? It's not like Lupus or one of the elders would suddenly appear and tell me. If only it were as easy as that.

I was startled by the loud slurping sound from the cell next to me. I turned to glare at Ulric. He looked at me, innocently and slowly lowered his cup form his lips, "What?"

I shook my head and leaned against the steel wall with the warms cup in my hands. Closing my eyes, I let the heat from the tea seep into my freezing hands and lull me into a deep half awake-half asleep, state. My mind drifted off, letting loose all of my worries and stresses for a while. You could call this meditating if you will, but Monk Lupis told me this was a slightly different type of meditation. When doing this, your mind seems to lift out of your body, sort of like the Avatar when he enters the spirit world except only your mind is set free not the spirit. In this state, if mastered, you can hear anything-see anything, almost like sensing your surroundings without even opening your eyes.

As I lay there I heard a hoarse light whisper. Barely audible it was light the soft rustling of leaves in a gentle breeze. But then it became louder the more I concentrated on it, so loud it seemed like whoever it was whispering was right inside my head, _"He's coming. . ."_

Feeling like a tiny zap of electricity hit me, I jolted awake. Franticly, I searched my surroundings for the source of the voice.

Nothing was amiss; Ulric was still in his cell, his head bent down with his chin against his chest staring at the tiny droplets of tea left in his cup acting like nothing occurred.

Puzzled, I set my cup down and inched closer to Ulric, gripping the bars with my right hand, "Ulric?"

No answer.

Suddenly a loud snore erupted from his lips and I realized he had fallen asleep, "Ulric! Wake up!" I said, irritated, bending some air at his face.

He jumped in surprise, "WHAT! Who? When?" he rambled, while looking about him in alarm.

Noticing there was nothing wrong he turned to me, agitated, "Why'd you wake me? I was having a good dream; I was swimming in a river of hot chocolate and marshmallows were dancing around me- and . . ." he continued dreamily.

"Ulric! I don't want to hear about your weird, obsessive hot chocolate-filled dreams!" I yelled, then lowering my voice I ask, "Did you hear that whispering earlier?"

"No," he replied, scratching his head, "why, did you hear something?"

_Had I really heard something or did I just doze off from exhaustion without knowing?_

"I thought I did," letting out a sigh, I leaned back, "never mind, must have been my imagination. Go back to sleep."

He leaned over against the wall, "With pleasure," he mumbled, already falling asleep.

I took a deep breath and exhaled, attempting to relax myself. That voice had seemed so familiar. I could almost pinpoint exactly who said this, but the name eluded me. Even if I knew who it was, I still wouldn't know who was coming. Is it someone important, someone that could help us escape? Or is it someone I'm to avoid, somebody dangerous?

_I guess I'll find out soon enough . . ._

_

* * *

_

**So I hope you liked this chapter! I sure did, I had fun writing more about kyra's past. Oh I you should know that in the first flashback Kyra is 11 and Ulric is 13 (if it wasn't clear) and in the second flashback Kyra is 12 because it takes place a year later. And just in case I fail at letting you know how old Kyra is as the story continues she's 13 and Ulric is 15.**

**K so now that that's out of the way. Thnx for reading! Let me know what you think about my writing and if there's anything I need to improve on!**


	4. Chapter 3: A Mixed Escape

**YES! I finally got around to finishing this chapter. But really, I think I'm getting lazy XD lol. **

**Anyway, here Kyra finally meets up with the Gaang and begins her real adventure. Now I wanted to point out that Kyra is this "spiritual being" I guess you could say. And she gets these wierd feelings or senses energy that a normal person wouldn't. So Kyra hasn't actually mastered this quite yet since it wasn't even mentioned to her in fear of getting her even more confused in the situation she was already in. (The Elder Council had kept a few important details from her.) But you will hear more about that later . . . don't want to reveal too much.**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, BUT I DO OWN . . . actually, I don't even think I own anything to be blunt. Damn lawers . . . -.-**

* * *

**Chapter 3: A Mixed Escape**

_**"In order to succeed, you must first be willing to fail." - Anonymous**_

I sat against the wall facing his cell and watched him pace back and forth, while mumbling obscenities under his breath. He's taken about one hundred and twenty four steps in that cell. Yeah . . . I counted, not much to do in a small metal cell. He quickened his pace as he got even more irritated.

Closing my eyes, I rubbed my temple with two fingers, "Quit pacing, you're making me dizzy."

He stopped and rested his forehead on his arm, using it as a cushion against the wall.

The irritable warrior sighed in frustration, "We need to find a way out of here."

Now we both knew that was impossible unless, I miraculously recovered from my wounds and fought our way out of this hell hole.

"How?" I asked, "It's nearly impossible. There are guards posted in every hallway and not to mention Ulgar and Zuko are on this ship. AND we're both in no condition to fight our way out. Heck, even that's not an option only one of us can bend and a wounded thirteen year-old air bender won't exactly last long against thirty or so other fire benders."

Ulric looked up at the ceiling, deep in thought, "What we need is a good distraction and we'd be able to sneak out."

I chuckled lightly, "No, what we need is a miracle."

Ulric glared at me, "Do you always have to contradict everything I say?"

Before I could respond with a witty remark the ship began to shake violently as if we had crashed into something.

"What was that?" I asked, wide eyed.

Ulric peeked through a port hole in the wall, "We've hit land. We're finally in the South Pole."

Suddenly a loud commotion erupted from outside. First there was a loud yell, as if someone was shouting a battle cry. Then a loud thump like someone had just fallen into snow.

"What's going on?" I asked.

He shrugged, "I'm not sure. I just see a lot of fire being thrown around out there," then he jumped slightly, "hey, Zuko is taking someone aboard! It's some boy probably around your age with a blue arrow tattoo on his forehead."

The ship's engines came to life as it jolted into motion, which meant we were leaving and who ever they've just captured was going to be sent to the prison cells.

It took me awhile to remember that I've heard of a description like that boy before. It was in many stories I've heard about the Air Nomads and their customs. One of their customs was that master air benders would have blue arrows tattooed along a person's arms, legs and head. Also all Air Nomads had been wiped out, so if there's someone with those tattoos it could only mean . . .

"Hey, Ulric, do you think that boy could be the Avatar?" I asked.

Ulric looked at me as if I had just asked the stupidest question in the world, "What? No, he'd be like . . . over a hundred years old now. That kid looked about twelve or thirteen."

I knew that the boy was the Avatar. I mean, at that time I felt like some kind of power or . . . strength was seeping into me; What else could it have been? It was like awareness had awakened within me, I had this sudden urge to break out of the cell and help whoever it was that they captured.

This feeling brought me back to the memory of when my father and I had gone hunting for wolves. It was a tradition that once every four months a selected few people from our village were chosen to hunt and kill a full grown male wolf so we could experience how a real wolf pack maneuvered and worked together to make a clean kill. Then the wolf's fur, teeth, claws and other parts would be made into jewelry, clothing or even medicine.

_Wielding our wooden bows and arrows, which we made ourselves, we crouched in bushes listening and waiting. Neither of us moved and the wilderness around us seemed to completely grow silent as we inched toward our prey._

_It was a bright winter day, with freshly fallen snow on the ground from the night before. This made it harder to keep our eyes on the wolf because it was at this time that they had finished shedding their darker fur, making room for silvery white fur to grow blending in with the surrounding snow._

_My father motioned for me to move ahead. He wanted me to make the kill this time since I had watched him many times before shoot a wolf straight through its heart without hesitation. He wanted me to make my very first wolf kill so that I could prove myself as a worthy future Guardian and Leader of our village._

_I brought the arrow to my bow and slowly pulled back, aiming as best I could at the wolf's heart. Glancing at my father I saw he already had his bow drawn in case anything went wrong and needed to make the shot. As I readied myself to release the string, I noticed the wolf's ears perk up and his mighty head lift up. The wolf's grey eyes locked onto mine and I knew he was aware of my presence. He knew he was going to die._

_A silent message passed between us at that instance. That glint in the wolf's eye seemed to say, 'I respect you as a hunter and I acknowledge you as the great Guardian. I can only hope I am a worthy prey and may pass on into the realm of wolves.'_

_All of that I got from that one glance, one moment of understanding between the wolf and the Guardian. It was like the wolf's soul had momentarily connected with mine giving me the sense of spiritualness I had never dreamt of feeling._

_I lowered my bow, uncertain of what had just occurred. Then the wolf raised its head to the sky and howled a beautiful melody to the heavens. I could feel the wolf's every emotion through that one howl._

_Suddenly the wolf seized its song and dropped to the snow with an arrow protruding from its chest. My father walked to the wolf and pulled the arrow from its body, while closing the wolf's grey eyes and reciting the ancient prayer of the hunt that told the prey how much its sacrifice was honored._

_I moved to my father's side and wiped my eyes of the tears that I hadn't known were rolling down my cheeks._

_"I'm sorry dad. I just . . . couldn't do it," I apologized._

_He stood and lay his arm comfortingly around my shoulder, "That's ok, the first kill is always the hardest," he said, staring at the wolf._

_My eyes inspected the wolf's powerful legs which would carry it distances not even imaginable. Then my eyes moved to its soft silver tail which would sway in the wind when running adding grace to its already beautiful form. At last, my eyes rested on its elegant yet fierce head which seemed so gentle when caring for their young. The wolf merely looked like it was asleep and not lying dead with the warmth escaping from its body._

_Fresh tears appeared in my eyes as I looked at my father, "Why do I feel like this dad? Why do I feel this pain, like I lost something special to me?"_

_He continued to stare at the dead wolf, "That's because you are a Guardian, Kyra. You carry two halves of one spirit. You're human but you are also wolf deep inside," he explained as I listened intently, "So when a wolf dies you feel like you lost someone you knew; someone very close to you."_

_"Is that why he howled like that?"_

_"Yes," he nodded, "he knew you where one of his kind. But he was also confused because he sensed you were human."_

_I was immediately overwhelmed by sadness and tears begun to pour down my face as I embraced my father, "I hate this dad. I'm so confused . . ."_

_He hugged me back, not wanting to let go, "I know, I know . . ."_

I was experiencing that feeling again. Something a part of me spiritually urged me to look for whoever it was that made this feeling.

Suddenly, I heard a loud bang on the metal door to our room. The door opened, letting a fire nation guard collapse into the room, unconscious. There was a commotion coming from the halls with people yelling, "The Avatar has escaped!"

Ulric and I looked at each other, surprised, "Looks like you've got your distraction, Ulric," I said.

"Yeah, but how are we going to get out of these cells?" he pointed out.

I rubbed my hands together in preparation, "You really underestimate my abilities."

I quickly grabbed the bars on the cell door and slowly pulled them apart. This added strain to my wounds as I made a hole for me to get through. I climbed through and walked over to Ulric's cell. In an attempt to save time I just pulled the cell door off of its hinges and threw it to the ground.

I fell to my knee from exhaustion and tried to catch my breath. The energy that gave me this strength still wasn't enough to overcome my wounds.

Ulric put his hand on my shoulder, "You ok?"

Clearing my throat and standing up I said, "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's get going before someone catches us."

We entered the hall way and ran straight forward toward where we thought the stairs were. I ran past an opened door and saw Zuko unconscious on a mattress.

"Looks like someone is sleeping on the job," Ulric remarked.

I rolled my eyes and continued running, "Very funny Ulric. You're quite the comedian."

"What?"

We came to a halt as we realized the hallway split into two different directions.

"Which way do we go?" asked Ulric.

_Turn right . . ._

That same voice echoed inside my head. And for some crazy reason, I decided to listen to it.

I pulled Ulric to the right, running at his side, "This way!"

"How do you know?"

"Call it a hunch," I replied.

As we neared the stairs I heard someone yell out from behind us, "Stop right there!"

We turned around to face Zuko, who wore his traditional pony tail, and Ulgar pointing their fists at us.

Zuko turned to Ulgar, "Take care of those two, I'll get The Avatar."

Zuko ran off down another hallway leaving Ulgar to us. Ulgar grinned evilly and shifted his stance, anticipation clear in his eyes as he waited for our first move.

"You go, I'll handle this," whispered Ulric.

"What? I am not going to leave you here!" I protested.

"This isn't open to debate! Go!" he yelled as he attacked Ulgar head on.

I ran up the stairs only stopping to yell back, "I'll be back for you!"

Ulric grunted as he pushed Ulgar back while dodging a fire ball from another guard that appeared, "Leave!"

I did as told and ran up to the hull of the ship just to see that tattooed boy and Zuko crash down from the sky along with a wooden glider. The boy attempted to get to his glider but before he could Zuko fire bent at him, making the boy jump back and defend himself. The tattooed boy jumped and dodged using air bending as Zuko continued to shoot fire balls.

A guard snuck up on me fire bending at my feet as I jumped forward and landed in a summersault. I turned around and sent a blast of air towards the guard sending him flying back down the flight of stairs.

Distracted the tattooed boy glanced in my direction looking puzzled. While the boy was distracted Zuko seized his chance by shooting a large fire ball at him. At the same moment a huge flying creature resembling a bison appeared near the ship with a girl and a boy sitting atop.

The tattooed boy fell back over board while trying to dodge the fire ball. As if on instinct I immediately lurched forward trying to catch the boy. I held onto him as we fell to the freezing water. Thanks to my fast thinking, I stretched my arm toward the water below bending wind beneath us, stopping us just inches above it. Breathing in then thrusting my arm out again I sent us straight up and falling onto the deck of the ship.

I quickly got to my feet and helped the boy up.

He looked at me, still confused, "Thanks."  
I got in an air bending stance and readied myself for the attack from the cluster of guards in front of us, "No problem," I replied giving him a small smile.

The bison creature landed onto the deck next to us. The girl, whom from a closer look I recognized was from one of the water tribes, climbed off of the creature yelling, "Aang!"

The girl had chocolate brown hair tied in a stylized braid with two hair loopies hanging to the left and right side of her face and looked to be about fourteen. Her bright blue eyes contrasted from her tanned skin. The water tribe boy had a shaven head save for his 'wolf tail' that covered the top middle section of his head. He sported the same blue eyes as his younger sister.

"Katara," yelled the tattooed boy in surprise as he received a hug from the girl, "what are you guys doing here?"

"We came to rescue you," she answered with a smile.

The water tribe boy now appeared next to the girl holding a boomerang, "Yeah this reunion is great and all but we've got a small problem here," he said pointing his boomerang towards the approaching guards.

This strange feeling now overwhelmed me and forcing me to make the decision to distract the guard and let the trio escape on the bison. I suppose it was my instincts to protect since I am a Guardian and my main role is to protect others as best I could. As I thought about this, I knew that if I helped these people then I'd be putting myself at risk of getting seriously hurt and recaptured. I dismissed that selfish thought and got in front of the three.

"You guys go, I'll handle them," I said, attacking the fire benders without looking back at the trio.

A guard charged at me yelling a battle cry and I merely crouched as he ran to me using an arch of air to flip the man above me. Then I sent a gust of air at four guards knocking them over.

While I was blocking some fireballs with airbending, another guard charged at me from the side with flaming daggers. Suddenly the guard disappeared; blown back by a blast of air. That tattooed boy, Aang, ran next to me fighting off other guards.

"I thought I told you guys to go!" I yelled over the ruckus of battle.

He smiled, "You saved me, now I'm returning the favor."

We were about to attack another wave of guards, but almost instantly they froze in place. Aang and I looked back to find the girl, Katara, had tried doing the water whip but instead frozen the guards . . . and her brother.

Seeing Zuko climbing onto the ship after being knocked over by the water tribe boy, Aang ran to the bison, "Let's get out of here."

Reluctantly I followed, climbing onto the bison.

Katara was helped aboard by Aang as she called for the water tribe boy, "Come on Sokka!"

In a haste of getting his feet free from the ice he hacked at it with his boomerang muttering, "I'm just a guy with a boomerang, I didn't ask for all this flying and magic."

As soon as he freed himself he climbed onto the bison by running up its' tail franticly yelling, "Yip, yip! Yip, yip!"

Just as fast as he said that, we were in the air and flying away from the ship.

As we gained altitude a huge fire ball came shooting towards us from the ship below. Instantaneously Aang sprang to action jumping to the bison's tail and swinging his glider like a bat deflecting the fire ball into an ice wall, making the weakened ice and snow fall onto the ship. _Well that backfired for them, _I thought.

I turned back around finding a spear pointed at my face.

Blinking in surprise I only managed to say, "uh . . ."

Sokka tightened his grip on the spear, "Who are you and why did you help us!"

Katara frowned at him, "Sokka!" she scolded.

I turned serious and folded my arms, "I've had spears pointed at my face all week, so this," I nodded at the spear, "doesn't faze me."

Sokka lowered his weapon and glared at me.

Katara turned to me, "I'm sorry for my brother. He's just too paranoid," she apologized, "I'm Katara, my brother here is Sokka, and that's Aang," she said pointing to herself, the water tribe boy, and then the boy with the arrow tattoo.

Sokka immediately covered Katara's mouth with his hand, "Don't tell her that! Now she knows who we are!"

Katara angrily shoved him away, "That's sort of the point Sokka!"

Aang excitedly plopped down in between Katara and Sokka, "What's your name?"

I relaxed a little, lowering my arms, "My name's Kyra."

"Are you from one of the air temples?" he asked excitedly; probably in hope of it being true.

I gave him a sad smile, "No, I lived on a small island near-" I stopped myself just in time before I told them were I was actually from, "near the Earth kingdom," I quickly added.

Aang seemed saddened that I wasn't an air nomad, but he immediately perked up smiling, "Well, even if you're not from the temples you're still an airbender."

I half grinned at Aang's enthusiasm, nodding.

Aang was about to ask another question till Sokka leaned forward abruptly, "Why were you on that fire nation ship? Are you fire nation, were you with Zuko?"

Confused at how many questions were thrown at me I shook my head, "What? No!" I said, aghast even at the notion of me being in an alliance with Zuko, "I was held prisoner there, and tortured."

"Was it because you're an airbender?" Aang asked.

I had to think fast. I didn't want to give away that I'm a Guardian let alone have to show them what I am. I suppose it was best that I only said I was an air bender and no more. _At least not till I'm positive I can trust them._

"Yeah . . ." I said trailing off a bit.

I glanced back at the fire nation ship shrinking in the distance. Despair began to wash over me as I realized that I didn't have a very good chance at saving Ulric. I didn't even know if Ulgar spared him, he could be dead for all I knew. _No, I can't think that. I have to have hope, It's all I've got left._

I drew a shaky breath and tried to swallow the lump that formed in my throat. I looked back to the group in front of me. _What am I going to do now? They won't let me travel with them, I have no relatives to go to; I'm out of options_.

Concerned Katara looked at Aang, "Why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar?"

I looked up, interested. _I knew it!_

Aang looked down solemnly, "Because I never wanted to be . . . I'm afraid I'll fail."

Boy did I ever know the feeling. I think every day about the possibilities of me failing my job as Guardian. I keep thinking I'll hurt whoever is close to me if I try to use my power. I knew exactly what he felt, despair, anger, helplessness, all of those awful feelings and more.

Silence befell the group as Katara stared worriedly at Aang, "Aang, the world's been waiting for the Avatar to return and finally put an end to this war."

He looked down with a sad expression, "And how am I going to do that?"

"According to legend, you need to first master water, then earth, then fire, right?" she said thoughtfully.

Aang shrugged lightly, "That's what the monks told me."

Katara smiled, "Well, if we go to the North Pole you can master waterbending."

Aang's frown turned to a grin, "We can learn it together!"

Katara turned to Sokka, knowingly, "And Sokka, I'm sure you'll get to knock some firebender heads along the way."

He dreamily looked on, "I'd like that. I'd really like that."

"Then we're all in this together." Katara exclaimed happily.

I smiled sadly at this turn of events. I suppose this is how it felt to have friends who support you. Not that I didn't apreciate Ulric and what he did for me, it's just . . . it would've been nice to have somone outside of family who cared about you. Then my smile faded and I became troubled with thoughts of where I'd go next, and if I'd be able to avoid the fire nation for long; _probably not_.

"But wait," said Aang staring worriedly at me, "will you travel with us?"

Caught off guard I only stammered, "I . . . uh, I can't."

Disappointed he asked, "Why not?"

"Because, as soon as we land I need to get to the closest town and figure out how to get back to that ship," I answered.

Katara looked seriously confused, "Why would you want to go back there?"

I sighed, "They have my brother."

"So why didn't he just escape with you?" asked Sokka with a slight accusing tone.

I leaned back against the saddle, "When we escaped our cells we got cornered by Zuko and Ulgar. He sacrificed his freedom so that I could escape."

Katara moved to my side and put her hand on my shoulder.

_Should I join them?_ I thought. _Well, Zuko and Ulgar seemed to really want the Avatar so they'd most likely come after them. And when they do I'll be there to rescue Ulric._

As if reading my mind, Katara said, "Well, Zuko wants Aang because he's the Avatar. So we're bound to run into them again."

"And when we do, we'll help you get your brother back," added Aang enthusiastically.

I felt that connection again, like I was tied to these people, meant to travel with them. But I dismissed it as just an urge to travel with them in order to get my brother back. Although, deep down I knew that wasn't the only reason.

I let myself give a small smile, "Alright . . . I'll travel with you guys."

"YEAH!" yelled Aang as he leaped into the air, fist pumping then landing back onto the saddle.

I chuckled. _I guess this won't be so bad_.

Smiling, Aang suddenly produced a scroll from behind him. _Where the hell did he get that from?_

"Now to attend to some serious business," he began as he unrolled the scroll, "here, here and here," He pointed to two spots in the Earth Kingdom and one spot in the southern Air Nomad Islands.

Sokka, Katara, and I leaned toward the map following Aang's finger as he pointed to the areas.

Perplexed, Katara asked, "What's there?"

As if expecting that question Aang immediately explained pointing to the eastern Earth Kingdom, "Here we'll ride the hopping llamas," then he pointed to a spot on the Southern Air Nomad Islands, "Then waaaay over here we'll surf on the backs of giant Koi Fish. Then back over here we'll ride the hog-monkeys. They don't like people riding them, but that's what makes it fun!" he exclaimed happily.

_

* * *

_

**Well that's the chapter. I hope you enjoyed reading it and will continue to read as I update :)**

**Why do I always write these things when it's so late. It's 5 in the morning and I'm still typing . . . . . wow. O.0**

**Next chapter will be up soon. Hopefully I won't be too swamped with late christmas shopping. I really need to get myself organized.**

**Merry Christmas everyone, or Hanukkah or Kwanza or . . . . ugh! You know what - HAPPY HOLIDAYS! I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday ^.^**


	5. Chapter 4: Wolf Spirit

** Well . . . I guess I have an apology to make. Sorry about the long wait, I've been busy with school and family and what not. And I feel bad because this chapter will no where near make up for the long absence of my updates, but might as well post the chapter up now than post nothing at all. I'm REALLLY sorry, I will try my hardest to update more frequently but I've got alot going on. With summer vacation peaking in the horizon I'm sure I'll find some time to work on some chapters.**

**Anyway I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender; and . . . . well, I wish I owned it XD**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Wolf Spirit**

The longer we traveled on the bison the more unsettled I was getting. Although I was an airbender, heights just didn't seem to agree with my stomach. Plus my slow healing wounds weren't helping much either. Katara noticed my discomfort and offered to wrap up most of my wounds with some bandages she had. I thanked her, the bandages helped keep the wound clean but unfortunately Katara didn't have any herbs to ease the stinging pain.

I just sat, laid back and stared out into the distance for most of the ride trying to ignore the lingering stinging I felt at my side (and my churning stomach) while I listened to the constant bickering of the two siblings. They got into a heated argument about Sokka's paranoia and once Sokka gave his opinion it was all downhill from there. It was humorous at first but now after an hour or so it got annoying.

"Do they always fight like this?" I asked Aang.

He nodded as he kept his eyes fixated on the sky, "You get used to it."

How could you get used to it? I thought. It seemed almost like they would go on forever, "So where exactly are we headed?"

He turned to me and grinned, "We're going to the Southern Air Temple to look for the Airbenders."

_Oh no_, I thought.

"But airbenders haven't been seen in over a hundred years," I said trying not to say what everyone knew.

He shrugged, "Just because you haven't seen any doesn't mean they're all gone."

I felt sorry for him. He wanted so much to return home and everything to be normal again. Sadly though everything's changed and he's the last of the people from the temples. Either he was just in denial or he really didn't know about what happened to the airbenders.

I knew this feeling, I was in denial about the death of my people as well . . . always hoping some of them escaped and we would all rebuild the village and continue our way of life. Eventually I had to face the cold hard reality.

I sighed and closed my eyes trying to block out the feuding voices. I wasn't used to so much stuff going on at the same time in just a day. It was actually a bit overwhelming. Almost instantly, a flash of blinding light showed in front of my eyes startling me with gory scenes of my burning village and the dead. My vision focused on the bodies that littered the once bustling market place showing the many frozen faces of people I once knew and talked to on a daily basis. Then there was another flash and I began to hear howling. Coming into view was a jet black wolf with piercing green eyes; seconds later a voice reverberated in my head . . . it's time.

"Aah!" I jolted awake and alarmingly surveyed my surroundings.

We landed in a small clearing, trees were blanketed in snow all around us. I looked over the saddle at Aang who seemed to be just climbing down off of Appa, but now stared at me worryingly.

"Are you alright?"

Composing myself I cleared my throat and nodded, "Um . . . yeah . . . yeah, I'm fine."

As I helped the group with setting up camp I thought about the vision I just had and what it meant.

_It's time . . ._

What did it mean? And what exactly did the wolf signify? All of this seemed so weird and dreamlike to me I almost didn't want to believe it. But with all of these strange things happening, me being a Guardian, meeting the Avatar, and flying on a bison . . . for spirits sake! A flying bison! They're supposed to be extinct and yet here is one right in our midst! I most definatly shouldn't dismiss these visions and voices, maybe all of these things are intended to help me.

"Kyra!"

I shook my head, coming out of my thought-filled daze, "Huh?"

Katara stood in front of me holding, what looked like, a sleeping bag, "We only have three sleeping bags," she stated.

"That's ok," I said, "I'll just sleep on the ground. I probably won't get much rest anyway." Just like every other night.

She nodded and unrolled the sleeping bag, straightening it out on the grass. She looked at me as I sat underneath a tree gazing at the setting sun.

"Really, it's no problem," I reassured her, "I don't sleep much."

Still seeming guilty Katara walked to the fluffy bison and helped Sokka unload the rest of the bags and supplies. Aang was attempting to build a fire pit in the middle of the tiny field but only growled in frustration at his failure.

Walking over to him I took the sticks he so angrily threw to the ground, "Here, let me help."

He watched as I drilled a hole into the middle of the piece of wood with a thin stick. I put the stick into the dent and moved my hands back and forth along the length of it till I began to see smoke lifting from the log. I quickly removed the branch and blew gently at the small flame that formed. The fire caught and engulfed the single piece of wood.

"Wow, where'd you learn to do that?" Aang asked, amazed.

I shrugged, smiling, "You learn a thing or two when you spend your whole life in the woods."

Sokka suddenly appeared behind me with a raised brow, "I thought you said you were from an Earth Kingdom village."

"Uh, um . . . Yeah, but my dad took me camping into the woods a lot; teaching me how to live off of the land," I stuttered.

"Mhm . . ." he replied while staring me down, "Why aren't you wearing Earth Kingdom clothing, or better yet how come you're not an earth bender since you're from the Earth Kingdom?" he drilled, crossing his arms as he finished.

"Sokka." chided Katara as she climbed off of Appa, "Enough with the interrogation. Kyra's been through enough," she scolded taking her place by the fire.

He shook his head as he turned his suspicious gaze to me, "No, if she's going to travel with us then we deserve to know."

I clenched my fists and tried not to get too angry. But it was easier said than done. Averting my eyes to the fire, I took deep breaths slowing my heart rate.

"Kyra helped us escape, she can't be from the fire nation-" started Aang, only to be immediately cut off by the infuriated warrior.

He flailed his arms around for emphasis, "She could be a spy! And for all we know that rescue could have been staged!"

Letting out a loud sigh I glared up at Sokka, "I'm right here," standing up I stepped in front of him, "Why don't you just tell me that you think I'm going kill you?"

I pointed at him angrily and said, "If that were the case then I wouldn't have volunteered to distract the guards to let you guys escape."

Sokka's features turned serious as I stared right into his eyes. I was stern but still felt hurt from his words. As we stared off I tried to have all of that pain I felt from my losses and failures show in my eyes. He wrinkled his brow in slight confusion as I continued to stare him down.

Aang stood, using his arms to put some distance between me and Sokka, "Come on guys, it's no use fighting."

"It's been a long day. We're all just tired and need some rest," added Katara.

Sokka's face softened and he stared at the ground. I glanced around, looking for an excuse to be alone.

Noticing the fire was beginning to die out I started towards the woods, "I'll get more wood."

As I walked off I could hear a distinct smack coming from the camp along with a yelp, "You can be a real jerk sometimes!"

I trudged further and further into the woods listening to the crunching of snow beneath my boots, brushing aside branches as I passed. I wanted to put a bit of distance between me and the camp so I could cool down. Stopping in front of a clear pond I knelt down and splashed myself with some water.

I lied about living in the Earth Kingdom and he had that part right, but assuming I was plotting with the fire nation was just absurd and out of line. Sure they can't possibly know what I went through while being imprisoned but I helped them escape and saved Aang from falling into the freezing waters. That had to count for something!

Suddenly, I realized something. How was it that this water that lay before me wasn't frozen from the cold temperatures of the South Pole? I picked up a handful of snow and ice from beside me and slowly lowered it to the water. Almost instantly the snow and ice melted into the liquid leaving me confused. I completely submerged my arm into the water. It was warm, hot even. Yet if I were to walk further down the side of the pond I'd come across frozen water.

This wasn't a hot spring; we were way too far up into the south to even come across a hot spring. _So what the hell is it?_

Curious, I stepped into the shallow water trying to see if I wasn't mistaken of its temperature. As I stood there I began to feel tugging at my feet as if someone or something wanted to pull me deeper into the water. Alarmed, I attempted to step back on land but I was held firmly in place. The more I struggled the more I was pulled into the water, until finally I became completely submerged in the warm water. Holding my breath I swam to the surface but was met with ice covering the way I had entered. Feeling tugging at my chest, I panicked and pounded on the ice. But to no avail, the ice refused to break and I was running out of air.

My vision turned hazy as I lost consciousness, sinking. Descending deeper, light faded until I was enveloped in darkness . . . but I wasn't dead. Flashes appeared in front of my eyes again, bringing back the horrid scenes of the battle in my village once more. Why is this happening?

The same voice echoed in my head but this time the wolf appeared staring at me intently through the ice, _'You have been through much, but there's a purpose to all of your sorrow. Gain control of your power and everything will be answered . . .'_

I tried to respond but water began rushing into my mouth as I was suddenly forced out of the pond crashing through the ice. I felled on the ground with a loud thud.

Groaning I slowly lifted myself up. _What the hell?_

Holding my head I moved to the edge of the pond, finding there was no hole there I quickly felt my clothes. I was bone dry, as if I hadn't even touched the water. There was no warm water anymore . . . just . . . ice. Was that all just some crazy vision? Or was I finally losing my mind? It seemed so real, like I was really drowning.

As if on cue, Aang emerged from the woods with a worried expression on his face, "Just came to see if you're ok and . . ." he tilted his head, and looked at me questioningly, "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

_I might as well have._

I quickly stood and brushed snow off of my pants, "I just needed to get away and calm down," I said, eyeing the pond.

Nervously, I glanced back to the pond expecting something else weird to emerge from its depths. Actually I wouldn't have been too surprised if the spirits of the elements themselves suddenly appeared, considering all of the weird things I've experienced that might as well have happened.

Aang looked at me with concern and confusion showing clear on his face.

"What?" I asked.

"You had a vision didn't you," stated Aang.

I turned my attention to him as he continued, "I was just as confused and scared as you when I first had one."

I didn't answer.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, shifting his feet.

I shook my head, "No, but thanks. Usually people aren't so concerned about me, least not someone I just met."

He walked to my side as we slowly headed back to camp, "We're going to be traveling together, so we need to learn to trust each other."

We walked in silence for a little bit. I watched the snowflakes fall around us, floating gracefully before landing lightly on a tree branch. I glanced at Aang, why was he being so nice? We've known each other not even for a day and he's willing to listen to my problems. His actions confused me; I didn't know how to react. No one had ever treated me this way, not unless they wanted something in return. But as I watched his carefree face staring ahead I knew he wasn't the kind of person that would take advantage of someone. I could tell he wanted to gain my trust, but that's not something I gave away easily especially not with my experiences.

There was something about him, though, that made me want to trust him right away and that scared me.

Aang looked at me and I quickly turned my eyes to the ground, "You're not just an airbender, are you." he said with interest.

I tried to seem indifferent and not give anything away, "What makes you say that?" I said ducking underneath a branch.

He smiled, "I don't know . . . just a feeling."

I chuckled, "Well, I'm not anything special either," I replied, much to Aang's confusion.

It was true though, a thing like me is nothing special. Sooner or later I'll screw up and hurt someone close to me. Monk Lupis told me every Guardian needed training and guidance. And there's no one who even remembered Guardians anymore let alone knew how to teach me the lessons I needed to learn. Sure Monk Lupis did begin training with me as soon as I learned I was the Guardian, but the first lessons were hand-to-hand combat, combat strategy, some sword training and the basic history about the past Avatars. I wasn't even close to learning about being a Guardian. The only thing that I learned from Lupis was how to control my anger and I wasn't even good at that. Yeah, pathetic I know.

I interrupted my thinking as we entered camp and sat by the fire again. Sokka was sitting on his sleeping bag whittling some kind of shape out of a piece of wood with a scowl on his face. Katara was next to the fire pit stirring something in a small pan with a content expression.

Katara turned to us and smiled warmly, "What took you guys so long?"

"I went a bit farther from camp than I thought I did," I lied, glancing at Aang whom only grinned in return.

Sokka stared at me coldly, "So I guess no one got the fire wood," he said, gesturing at the dwindling fire with his miniature knife.

_Looks like he's still suspicious of me_; I returned the icy glare. He's probably the most stubborn person I'd ever met (next to Ulric). I knew it was going to take a while before he'd even attempt to trust me. What in the world had him so convince I was secretly working for the fire nation? _If I was hired to kill them I'd have done it already!_ No, I wasn't going to let this get to me. If he wanted to believe I'll betray them then let him because he's sadly mistaken.

Erasing the anger from my face I suppressed a sigh and stood, "Sorry, I forgot," I apologized, starting back towards the woods I felt someone touch my shoulder.

Turning around I was met with Aang's calm smile, "That's ok, I'll get the fire wood," he said and reentered the woods.

Watching him disappear into the large bushes, I frowned in confusion. _Kindness . . . . now I know what this feels like._

* * *

**There you go, now this chapter sets up the next 'episode' so to speak. And truthfully, I would have just combined this chapter with the next but it would have taken longer for me to finish with the editing and stuff. I just wanted to update so to not lose your guys' interest (probably already late for that).**

** Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this chapter. Constructive criticism is much appreciated, Thanks for Reading! XD**


End file.
